Over the last 17 years, I have had the privilege of working with some wonderful young people and their families as I poured my heart and soul into teens as a student minister. We never anticipated the innumerable blessings and great joy these years have brought to our family. As I prepare to step aside from this great work to serve the Lord in other capacities, I want to take a moment to say thank you. 

Thank you, Karns, Church Street and Northside church families. Words aren’t enough to thank all of you for your love and encouragement during the last 17 years we have been working in student ministry, along with the two summers of intern work. We sincerely appreciate the faith and support each of the elderships has shown us and the student ministry. We are thankful for each member who has volunteered, taught, hosted, chauffeured, encouraged and cooked for our teens. I’m especially thankful for David Baldwin and his family and the youth committee members for the tremendous time they have given to the success of our student ministry. Many of you have made numerous sacrifices for the betterment of our ministry. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Thank you, parents, for allowing me to work with your teens. What great kids you have raised and are raising! Miranda and I truly believe we have had the honor of working with some of the very best young people, and this is a testament to you, their parents. We are honored to call each of you our brothers, sisters and friends.

Thank you, teens past and present! A few words can’t adequately describe what you all mean to me. Working with you has been one of the great privileges of my life and has impacted me more than you will ever realize. Thank you for sharing your lives with our family. You will always be “our kids” and Caden’s and Cameron’s “big friends.” We love each and every one of you and will continually pray for you and your walk with Jesus. After all, your relationship with Him is what is most important. 

While we do not know exactly what things will look like in our future ministry, we are truly excited for the opportunity we have to continue laboring in service to our heavenly Father. This is our heartfelt desire. Please pray for us as we make this transition in ministry and ask God that in all things He will be glorified in our efforts. We love you all.

Waiting can be hard. If we are honest, most of us do not like to wait. Just take a good look around. We have “fast” food restaurants, “express” check outs and “same day” deliveries to name a few. Waiting is a struggle for many of us. Yet, as Christians, we spend much of our lives waiting. We eagerly wait for Jesus to return and present us to the Father in a beautiful place called heaven.

Waiting is nothing new. Throughout scripture we see examples of God’s people waiting for some particular promise from God. For example, God made a promise to Abraham that from his seed would come a great nation (Gen. 12:1-5). Unfortunately for Abraham, 25 years passed before Abraham and Sarah conceived and gave birth to Isaac (Gen. 21:1-7). And what about the faithful spies who brought back a good report of the land? Joshua and Caleb spent 40 years wandering in a wilderness waiting to cross the Jordan River to inherit the Promised Land (Num. 14:26-35). God’s people never have been exempt from periods of waiting.

As we find ourselves waiting, we might push those promises out of our minds and live as if the promises of God may never happen. Abraham became impatient and tried to take over when he produced an offspring through Sarai’s servant, Hagar (Gen. 16). After trying to accomplish the promise on his own, Abraham found out Hagar’s son was not the son of promise, but that a son would still be born. He only needed to wait. Joshua and Caleb could have become restless and tried to take matters into their own hands during their 40 years of wandering.

Right now we find ourselves in a period of waiting. And while each passing day may cause us to feel as though God’s promises are not being fulfilled, let’s remember God is not on our time table. He is in control and knows exactly what He is doing. While we may not understand the wait, we must trust Him and know that when He does finally fulfill those promises we all long for, those promises will have been well worth our wait, just as they were for Abraham, Joshua and Caleb.

He walked over to the counter, eagerly thinking about his favorite flavors. He hoped there was still a chocolate frosted one available. Last time he looked, there were still several donuts in the box but he couldn’t remember for sure about the chocolate. He excitedly lifted the lid on the box of donuts but the box was empty! The donuts were gone. His heart sank in disappointment over the empty box.

Many times when we discover something is empty, we find ourselves disappointed and maybe even frustrated. Have you ever started up your vehicle while running late to an appointment only to discover the gas tank was about empty? Maybe you were in the process of cooking dinner only to discover that your jar of the main ingredient was empty. Discovering something empty can be so frustrating. 

One Sunday morning some 2,000 years ago, everything changed. As the women went to the tomb where Jesus had been buried, they discovered something they were not expecting. They had taken spices to anoint His lifeless body. Instead they found the stone rolled away from the tomb and the body of Jesus was not inside (Lk. 24:1-12). The tomb was empty! How discouraging and painful that must have been to those women. But then, in the midst of their great disappointment, they heard the powerful words, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen”(Lk. 24:5-6).

On that day, the empty tomb was anything but disappointing. It was not frustrating nor was it discouraging. The empty tomb was a blessing we still enjoy to this day. That empty tomb represents the greatest victory the world has ever known. Jesus conquering the grave gives mankind a living hope of a great inheritance that will never be taken away (I Pet. 1:3-4).

Friends, every first day of the week we celebrate the joy of that empty tomb. What a great blessing it is to know that the empty tomb doesn’t represent defeat, but rather a great victory for those who believe and obey Jesus Christ!

Our words have a lot of power. Our words have the power to build others up so that it changes the course of their lives. And yet, with only a few words, we can tear others down to the point it is difficult for them to recover. The words we speak hold great power.

While our words alone can be powerful, sometimes our words are simply not enough. There are times when we need more than words to demonstrate how important something is in our lives. If you are married you understand this. You can tell your spouse you love them all day long, but if your actions do not match your words, then your words mean nothing.

One day Jesus was speaking to a large crowd about some things that were probably really hard to hear. As He was concluding his message, He wanted to challenge His followers. Jesus said, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46). He didn’t want his followers to simply confess Him as Lord. Jesus wanted His disciples to not only profess Him as Lord but also to practice His words and teachings in their daily lives.

Many people today make the same confession those followers made long ago. They confess Jesus to be Lord. The problem is although they make such a profession, they live as though Jesus is anything but their Lord. They worship Him on Sunday but then live according to their own will on Monday. They claim to be a follower of Jesus but then live their lives as a follower of the world. In the Gospel of John, Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

Friends, it is not enough to merely say Jesus is Lord and state our love for Him. We must express our love and the Lordship of Jesus by the way we live. Our love for Jesus isn’t seen through the words we speak, but through the lives we choose to live. As it has been said, “If Jesus isn’t Lord OF all, then he isn’t Lord AT all.” Let’s not just say Jesus is Lord; instead, let’s live our lives as if Jesus is our Lord.

Everyone loves a good story. From the time we are little kids until we are fully grown adults, people love to listen to a good story. Young children enjoy their parents reading to them and adults enjoy a good book or movie. People really love a good story.

And every person has a story to tell. Whether it be about a personal triumph or overcoming some tragedy, we all have something worthwhile to share. As Christians, we have a story even more compelling to share with others. Our story is about how Jesus changed our lives. While you may not think your story is worthy of sharing, let me assure you that it is.

In John 9, Jesus healed a man who had been blind since birth. When the man returned to his neighbors, they could not believe it was really him. This was the man they had seen countless times sitting and begging for spare change. Now he was leaping around like never before. How could a man who was born blind see so clearly all of a sudden? His neighbors wanted to know, what was his story? (John 9:8-10).

That’s when the man told them about how Jesus completely changed his life. “He answered, the man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight” (John 9:11).

Although the man’s story of how Jesus changed his life was short and simple, it was captivating. In essence, Jesus gave him a command, he did what Jesus commanded and then he was able to reap the blessing of seeing for the first time, all because the man was obedient and did exactly what Jesus said. Wow, what a story!

I may not know the story of how you came to Christ, but I promise you have a story you need to share. Whether you think it’s worthy of sharing or not, it is. Let’s all be like the blind man who Jesus healed and be willing to share our story. Your story just might lead someone else to Jesus.